json/Kabbalah/Other Kabbalah Works/Be'ur Eser S'firot/English/Sefaria Community Translation.json

{
    "language": "en",
    "title": "Be'ur Eser S'firot",
    "versionSource": "https://www.sefaria.org",
    "versionTitle": "Sefaria Community Translation",
    "license": "CC0",
    "versionTitleInHebrew": "תרגום קהילת ספריא",
    "actualLanguage": "en",
    "languageFamilyName": "english",
    "isBaseText": false,
    "isSource": false,
    "direction": "ltr",
    "heTitle": "ביאור עשר ספירות",
    "categories": [
        "Kabbalah",
        "Other Kabbalah Works"
    ],
    "text": [
        [
            "1) If one should ask, 'What should make me believe that there is a Ruler of the world?'",
            "Answer. Like it's impossible for a ship to not have a captain, so it's impossible for the world to not have a Ruler. And the Ruler is the Infinite One for God's honor and God's word - as the matter is written, \"I have seen an end to every purpose; but Thy commandment is exceeding broad.\" (Ps. 119:96), and it is written, \"That God will call every creature to account for everything unknown, be it good or bad.\" (Ecc. 12:14) And what is this that is hidden, without end or beginning, and without detail and without anything outside of it? And the sages of the investigation agree that this is a thing without end and without detail and without border, the causes of all causes, and the reason behind all reasons. And the way of the Ruler that we have seen is without end and all of God's actions are hidden from one who investigates the issue, as its written, \"God hath set the world in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end.\" (Ecc. 3:11) And its also written, \"though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.\" (ibid, 8:17). And about this the text cautions, \"... lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe...\"  (Deut. 29:17) And its written, \"that he bless himself in his heart, saying: 'I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart...'\" (ibid, 18) that is to say, that there's no believer in name and in image except for he that believes in the Infinite and draws from God strength for himself - and he doesn't do so through the virtue of name. And regarding one who has denied the name, it is written, and in him God protests God's name in order to contend with him and his image. And the one that believes in God will believe that there is a Ruler of the world, and the believer in the Infinite. But the one who doesn't believe that there is a Ruler of the world, but instead says that the world is degraded and happened by chance, about him it is written, 'If you walk contrary to me...\" (Lev. 26:21) And it's written, \"...then I will walk contrary to you in fury.\" (ibid, 28) That is to say, that each and every person is measured by God in the same measure of desire, and in him is the path which is established for him."
        ],
        [
            "2) If one should ask, 'What should compel me to believe in the Ein-Sof'",
            "Answer. Know that all that you see an all that is perceived in the thoughts of the mind is limited. And everything that is limited has an end, and everything that has an end is unworthy. If so, then what is limitless is called Infinite and this means that it is completely unified, perfected, and changeless. And if the Infinite has no limit, then there's nothing outside of it. And therefore God is elevated, and elevates them (the S'firot) - this is the essence of everything that is hidden and revealed. And what is hidden is both the root of faith and the root of rebellion, and about this its said, \"...the righteous shall live by his faith.\" (Habakkuk 2:4) And the sages of study agree with the words of the one who says that none surpass us because none are on this path. And the things which are emanated from the Infinite - these are the 10 S'firot."
        ],
        [
            "And if one goes on to ask: Why should I be compelled to think that the S'firot are there? As I would prefer to say that there's nothing there except the Infinite One alone?",
            "Answer: The Infinite One is perfect, without any deficiency. And if you say that God's force is limited, and not a limitless force - then you are subtracting from God's perfection.",
            "And if you say that the limit is found at the moment of creation of this world - this is a subtraction from God. And because there's not a deficiency in God's perfection, we have to say necessarily that God has a limitless limited force. And found in this is the beginning of the S'firot, which are a perfect force and a deficient force. When they receive from the divine flow that is coming from God's perfection, then they are a perfect force. But when the flow is prevented from reaching them, they are a deficient force, thus there is within them a force that works towards both perfection and deficiency. And the perfection and the deficiency, these are the things which separate between one thing and another. And if you say that God is alone, and at the creation of God's world there were not the S'firot, there is a reply to this - that is the intention of the teaching that it [the S'firot] are deliberately omitted. And if you say that there's no direction to God's creation, there's a reply as well - that if this were so why would creation be in the Torah? No word that comes from the Torah has an order, but we can see that everything that was created has an order - such as the sun during the day and the moon and stars at night. And about the order of these being established, and about the order of these being destroyed, and about the order of these being renewed - this is what is called the S'firot, because they are a force for all which exists and can be described in terms of numbers, and therefore the reality of all Creation is a projection of the S'firot. They change from one thing to another, and in them are high points, low points, and middle points. But despite this, all of them are of one essence, and all are from the Infinite One. There's nothing outside of God."
        ],
        [
            "And if one should ask: Now I am convinced that the S'firot exist, but what should compel me [to think] that there are ten of them but they act as a single force?",
            "Answer. Already I have shown you that the S'firot are the head and beginning of all that comes within the limits [of the universe], and all that comes within the limits is defined by its substance and its space - and there's no substance without a space, and there's no space without the concept of substance. And there's nothing that can reduce the substance of a force that does't have length, width, or depth. These are 9, and accordingly there's no substance established without a space for it, and there's no space established without the force of the substance. There's no number complete in substance and in place lower than 10, and therefore its called 10 (Eser) and not 9, 10 and not 11, because like the that 3 goes into 9, so the fourth is space. God's judgement is that they should be 10 to hint that at the space from the force of substance, and substance only has one force."
        ],
        [
            "And if one should ask, 'How can you say that the S'firot are emanated [from God] - I say that they were created when [everything else] was created?!",
            "Answer. Already I have demonstrated that the Infinite One is perfect, without deficiency, and should the one that crafted the Beginning be found among it? A beginning must be complete, and therefore the force that emanated was appropriate to be the beginning of all that is created, because the force that emanated [at creation] is the essence of the creation: to create all that is created as if there were not a force of emanation - and we take from this that there is no deficiency. How were they emanated? A perfect flow came from the Infinite. And how was the force of the S'firot ready to receive and to influence all that needed it without being diminished, because in all of creation when something is taken from it, it becomes diminished? But the S'firot [are different], since they formed the beginning itself in order to reveal the Infinite. A beginning must have its forces be perfect and without deficiency, even though they are influencing everything and drawn on from all that receives them from the Infinite."
        ]
    ],
    "sectionNames": [
        "Section",
        "Paragraph"
    ]
}